Dr. Osama Siddique is a legal scholar, policy reform advisor and author. He is an Associate Fellow at the Institute of Development and Economic Alternatives (IDEAS), Lahore, Pakistan. He has also worked as an Associate Professor of Law & Policy and was the founding head of department (2005-2007) at Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS), Lahore, Pakistan. Dr. Siddique has extensive experience in research and policy work in the fields of law and public policy. He has several scholarly publications in international academic journals in the areas of comparative constitutional law, law and development, legal history, human rights, legal education, and justice sector reform. He has also worked extensively as a justice sector reform adviser to Pakistani courts, federal and provincial government departments, the United Nations and various international bilateral and multilateral financial institutions, including the ADB, USAID, DFID, EU, GIZ and World Bank. He is a regular participant in local and international academic conferences and policy dialogues. He has also practiced as a transactional lawyer in New York and as an advocate of the appellate courts in Pakistan. His most recent book publication is ‘Pakistan’s Experience with Formal Law: An Alien Justice’ (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2013). Dr. Siddique is also currently a member of the Senior Faculty of the Institute for Global Law & Policy (IGLP) at Harvard Law School for the 2015 IGLP Workshop.

RESEARCH INTERESTS

Primary Interests: Pakistani Constitutional Law and History, Human Rights, Comparative Constitutional Law, Indian Legal History, Legal Theory, Political Theory, Law and Society, Sociology of Law, Legal Anthropology, Law and Literature, Law and Public Policy, Justice Sector Reform, Law & Development, Access to Justice, Legal Empowerment of the Poor & Vulnerable, Regulatory Laws and Regulation of Higher Education.

Prosecutor Trainings Development and Institution Building in Punjab (current)

Books

Pakistan’s Experience with Formal Law: An Alien JusticeCambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2013 (International Hardback Edition)
New Delhi: Cambridge University Press, 2014 (South Asian Paperback Edition)
Winner of the Best Non-Fiction Book of the Year Award at Karachi Literature Festival, 2014

The Jurisprudence of Dissolutions: Presidential Power to Dissolve Assemblies under the Pakistani Constitution and its DiscontentsKarachi: Pakistan Law House, 2008

Law Journals

“Capturing Obscenity: The Trials and Tribulations of Saadat Hasan Manto”NAVEIÑ REET: Nordic Journal of Law & Social Research (NNJLSR) No.5, 2014

Legal Education in Pakistan: The Domination of Practitioners and the ‘Critically Endangered’ Academic”Journal of Legal Education, Volume 63, Number 3 (February 2014)

“Law as an Instrument of Coercion: Blasphemy Laws, Vigilante Justice and Personal Vendettas” (forthcoming in 2015)

“The 2005 South Asian Earthquake: Natural Calamity or Failure of State? Exploring State Liability and Remedies for Victims of Defective Construction in Pakistan” (with Maryam Khan)
Australian Journal of Asian Law (9 Asian Law (2007))

“Martial Laws and Lawyers: The Crisis of Legal Education in Pakistan and Key Areas of Reform”Regent Journal of International Law (5 Regent J. Int’l L. 95 (2007))

“The Jurisprudence of Dissolutions: Presidential Power to Dissolve Assemblies under the Pakistani Constitution and its Discontents”Arizona Journal of International and Comparative Law (23 Ariz. J. Int’l & Comp. Law 615 (2006))

Chapters in Edited Volumes

Judicialization of Politics: Pakistan Supreme Court’s Jurisprudence after the Lawyers’ Movement, in UNSTABLE CONSTITUTIONALISM: LAW AND POLITICS IN SOUTH ASIA (Mark Tushnet and Madhav Khosla eds., New York: Cambridge University Press) (2015).

From the Case and the Court to the Dispute and the Disputant: Revitalizing Informal Justice in Pakistan, in INDIAN LEGAL SYSTEM REFORM: EMPIRICAL BASELINES AND NORMATIVE FRAMEWORKS (Sudhir Krishnaswami ed., New Delhi: Oxford University Press) (forthcoming in 2015).

The Other Pakistan: Special Laws, Diminished Citizenship and the Gathering Storm, in NORMS, INTERESTS, AND VALUES – CONFLICT AND CONSENT IN THE BASIC CONSTITUTIONAL ORDER (CPG Series on Comparative Constitutional Law, Politics, and Governance: Henning Glaser ed., Baden-Baden, Nomos) (forthcoming in 2015)

Across the Border – A New Avatar for India’s ‘Basic Structure Doctrine’, in SEMINAR: A MONTHLY SYMPOSIUM, ON 60 YEARS OF THE INDIAN CONSTITUTION (1950-2010), 2010.

Corporate Governance in Pakistan: Ownership, Control and the Law (with Ali Cheema and Faisal Bari), inA COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF CORPORATE GOVERNANCE IN SOUTH ASIA: CHARTING A ROAD MAP FOR BANGLADESH
(Farooq Sobhan and Wendy Werner eds., 2003)

Reclaiming Prosperity in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa – A Medium Term Strategy for Inclusive Growth (International Growth Centre (with various co-authors) (IGC) – London School of Economics & Political Science (LSE) & University of Oxford: 2014)

Simplification and Promotion of Laws and Procedures for Corporatization of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) (with Faisal Bari) (Ministry of Industries and Production, Government of Pakistan and Securities & Exchange Commission of Pakistan, 2003)

Research Study on Harmonizing Code of Corporate Governance with other Laws/Regulations in Pakistan(United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and Securities & Exchange Commission of Pakistan, 2003)

2015

External Evaluator for a Public Policy Formulation Simulation Exercise on “Law & Order, Terrorism – Criminal Justice System and Governance” by Grade 20 federal and provincial officers undergoing training for further promotion at the 102nd National Management Course (NMC) at the National Management College, National School of Public Policy. Lahore, Pakistan, April 3, 2015.

Speaker and Moderator at the European Union’s Punjab Access to Justice Project Launch, Lahore, Pakistan, March 26, 2015.Title: “Legal Advisory and Representational Services in South Punjab: Key Findings of Baseline Study of Availability and Priority Needs.”

Public Lecture for the faculty of Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan (BZU). Multan, Pakistan, February 2, 2015.Title: “Pakistan’s Experience with Formal Law, Future of Reforms and Role of Universities and Scholarship in the Justice Discourse.”

2014

Co-Chair and Speaker at the National Conference of Judicial Academies on “Key Issues and Challenges in Judicial Education” at the Punjab Judicial Academy. Lahore, Pakistan, October 25, 2014.Title: “Curriculum, Course Design & Content and Module Development: Key Lessons.”

Speaker and Moderator at the National Conference on Continuing Legal Education organized and sponsored by the Supreme Court Bar Association of Pakistan, Commercial Law Development Program (CLDP), Department of Commerce, United States of America, & Continuing Legal Education Institute of Pakistan (CLEIP). Islamabad, Pakistan, October 21, 2014.Title: “The State of Legal Education in Pakistan: Understanding why CLE is Essential.”

External Evaluator for a Public Policy Formulation Simulation Exercise on “Law & Order, Terrorism, Criminal Justice System and Governance” by Grade 20 federal and provincial officers undergoing training for further promotion at the 101st National Management Course (NMC) at the National Management College, National School of Public Policy. Lahore, Pakistan, October 16, 2014.

Speaker and Discussant at a national symposium titled ‘Witness Security Symposium’ organized by the British High Commission and the Law & Justice Commission of Pakistan. Bhurban, Pakistan, May 22-24, 2014.Title: “The Current State of Pakistani Law regarding Witness Protection and the Analytical and Institutional Frameworks for Future Reforms.”

Presenter at an international conference titled ‘Pakistan: Creation and Consolidation’ at Department of History, Forman Christian College, Lahore. Lahore, Pakistan, April 14-15, 2014.Title: “Judicialization of Politics in Pakistan – From its First Decade to the period after the Lawyers’ Movement.”

External Evaluator for a Public Policy Formulation Simulation Exercise on “Law and Order, Terrorism and Criminal Justice System” by Grade 20 federal and provincial officers undergoing training for further promotion at the 100th National Management Course (NMC) at the National Management College, National School of Public Policy. Lahore, Pakistan, April 9, 2014.

Presenter at an international conference titled ‘Re-Envisioning Pakistan: The Political Economy of Social Transformation’ at Sarah Lawrence College, New York, U.S.A. New York, U.S.A, April 4-5, 2014.Title: “Judicialization of Politics: Pakistan Supreme Court’s Jurisprudence after the Lawyers’ Movement.”

Discussant at the “Civil Service Reform Policy Dialogue 2014” conducted jointly by CERP (Center for Economic Research in Pakistan), Evidence for Policy Design (Center for International Development at Harvard University), UK aid, National School of Public Policy, Pakistan, and Government of the Punjab, at the National School of Public Policy, Pakistan. Lahore, Pakistan, March 20-21, 2014.

Discussant in the Enrichment Plenary on “Global Value Chains and Food Security in the Middle East” with Professor Gary Gereffi and Ghada Ahmed (Duke University), Robert Wai (Associate Professor, Osgoode Hall Law School, York University), Jorge Esquirol (Professor, Florida International University, College of Law), Vidya Kumar (Lecturer in Law, University of Birmingham) and Judge Dennis Davis (High Court of Cape Town, South Africa) at the Harvard Law School’s Institute for Global Law & Policy (IGLP) Workshop at Doha, Qatar in collaboration with the Hamad Bin Khalifa University, Qatar and the Qatar Foundation. Doha, Qatar, January 7, 2014.Title: “Land grabs and the multifarious political, economic and social impacts of the same in countries targeted for off-shore farming by resource rich nations pursuing food security policies.”

2013

Public Guest Lecture organized by the Asian Dynamics Initiative (ADI), Department of Cross-Cultural and Regional Studies, Faculty of Humanities, University of Copenhagen, held at Copenhagen, Denmark. Denmark, Copenhagen, December 12, 2013.Title: “Law Reform in Pakistan.”

Presentation at the Workshop titled “Law and Art: European and Global Perspectives” organized by Centre for European Constitutionalization and Security, Faculty of Law & Department of Cross-Cultural and Regional Studies, Faculty of Humanities, University of Copenhagen, held at Copenhagen, Denmark. Denmark, Copenhagen, December 10, 2013.Title: “Capturing Obscenity: The Trials and Tribulations of Saadat Hasan Manto.”

Presentation at Harvard South Asia Institute conference held at New Delhi, India. New Delhi, India, May 25, 2013.Title: “Constitutional Development, Economic Change and Democratic Stresses in South Asia.”

Chair and Speaker at a national academic conference on “Education, Language and Educational Management” held at the School of Education, Beaconhouse National University (BNU), Lahore. May 2, 2013.Title: “Colonial Legacies, The Model Universities Ordinance and continuing challenges for Higher Education Policy-Making and Management in Pakistan.”

Participant and Presenter at the Harvard Law School’s Institute for Global Law & Policy’s (IGLP) Fourth Annual Workshop on Global Law and Economic Policy. Doha, Qatar, January 5 – 13, 2013.Title: “Law as an Instrument of Coercion: Blasphemy Laws, Vigilante Justice, and Personal Vendettas.”

Paper Presented (in absentia) at the 2013 Annual Meeting of the Association of American Law Schools (AALS). New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.A, January 4-7, 2013.Title: “Legal Education in Pakistan, the Domination of Lawyers and Abandoned Reform.” (Paper presented by Professor Shubha Ghosh, University of Wisconsin Law School and Chair of the Law and South Asian Studies Section of the AALS Annual Meeting).

Courses Taught:
Human Rights Law and Society
Constitutional Law of Pakistan
Constitutional History of Pakistan
Comparative Constitutional Law & Politics
Advocacy & Negotiations
Advanced Moot Court Clinic
The Impact of Colonial Law on India

Legal Practice Experience

Areas of Practice: Appellate court litigation, including constitutional challenges to legislative and executive violations of Fundamental Rights under the Constitution. Litigation and Advisory work in a vast variety of civil, commercial and corporate transactions

Areas of Practice: Advisory and advocacy work in the district and appellate courts and tribunals in the areas of constitutional, administrative, civil, corporate, commercial and banking laws. Pro bono services in the areas of human rights, constitutional law, environmental laws, and cultural and architectural conservation

Areas of Practice: Member of the international project finance and leveraged leasing team. Worked on several transactions for Fortune 500 clients as a member of larger practice teams as well as the primary supervising attorney

Areas of Practice: General corporate, international project finance, securities, real estate, corporate takeovers, and mergers & acquisitions transactions for individual as well as Fortune 500 clients. Also worked out of the Firm’s London office and in collaboration with its Delhi office